It will also claim that the Bishop took advantage of his position of authority with both women, who had turned to him for spiritual comfort and advice after going through problems in their marriages.

Bishop Conry resigned dramatically last month from his position as Bishop of Arundel and Brighton as details of his close friendships with women began to emerge. He admitted to having an affair with a women six years ago, but denied any physical relationship with Mrs Hodgkinson.

However, Mr Hodgkinson’s advisors claim they have established that Bishop Conry has been intimately involved with a total of four women since 2001.

Mr Hodgkinson, 44, is being assisted by Graham Baldwin, of the charity Catalyst – which helps individuals whose family life has been effected by religious or cult groups.

Mr Baldwin said: “Bishop Conry has not only broken his vows of celibacy, which are central to the Catholic priesthood. More importantly he has, by his own admission on at least one occasion, committed adultery with a married woman, which in the eyes of the church is a mortal sin.

“As a result his behaviour raises fundamental questions about his position as a priest and his ability to look after his flock. He needs to be laicised, what most people would understand as defrocked, and removed from the priesthood.”

The Telegraph disclosed last week that the woman with whom the Bishop had an affair six years ago was a mother of three whose marriage appears to have run into difficulties some time earlier.

The woman, who is now in her early 50s and works in education, was active in the Diocese of Arundel at the time.

In the most recent case Mrs Hodgkinson, also aged 44, is a respected teacher at a fee-paying convent school in southern England, where the bishop was a frequent visitor in his capacity as the Diocese of Arundel’s spiritual leader.

Last year Bishop Conry accompanied Mrs Hodgkinson and a party of girls from the school on a pilgrimage to Lourdes, one of the most important shrines in the Catholic faith. A picture taken on the trip shows the bishop with his arm around Mrs Hodgkinson and another woman, next to other members of the group in front of Lourdes Cathedral.

Mr Hodgkinson, a banker, said: “His behaviour has been appalling. To think that this is a person who people turn to for marriage advice is unbelievable. It makes him a hypocrite.”

More details about the extent of relationship can now be revealed after Mr Hodgkinson discovered that the Bishop and his wife exchanged hundreds of texts a day over a period of several months following the trip to Lourdes last year, sometimes starting as early as 6am and going on until late evening.

The pair also exchanged dozens of apparently intimate letters, signing themselves by their initials and discussing their feelings for each other. A private detective hired by Mr Hodgkinson established that over a seven week period she spent 11 nights at the Bishop’s home in Pease Pottage, near Crawley, West Sussex.

Mr Baldwin said: “This is not the kind of behaviour one would expect from a church figure in a position of authority whose duty would be to encourage a couple whose marriage is going through a difficult period to reconcile with each other.

“The Bishop was a man who knew the marriage was in trouble and, instead of trying to help, he began writing love letters to this woman. It is an abuse of his position and a betrayal of his friendship with both her and her husband, who he christened into the church four years ago.”

Mr Hodgkinson and Mr Baldwin have written twice to Cardinal Nichols, the Vicar General and the Papal Nuncio, submitting evidence of what they described as the Bishop’s in appropriate behaviour. They say they have received no reply.

It can also be revealed that there are questions over the Bishop’s friendship with at least two other two women.

Mr Hodgkinson’s representatives have seen letters sent to the Bishop by a different woman, suggesting another close relationship.

Also being widely discussed in Catholic circles is a fourth incident involving a woman, dating back to 2001, shortly before Kieran Conry was ordained as a Bishop.

Monsignor Conry, as he was then known, was reportedly seen walking hand in hand with the woman in the grounds of Villa Palazzola, the retreat owned by the English College, a catholic seminary, on Lake Albano, 18-miles south east of Rome.

A number of Catholic commentators reported that church officials questioned Mgr Conry over the matter, but that the incident did not prevent his promotion to Bishop a few weeks later.

One, Michael Grade of the online publication Christian Order, wrote: “Not only did Mgr Conry’s less than discreet romantic entanglements not disqualify him from consideration for a bishopric in the first place, but [ ...] the Palazzola coup de grace did not even delay his elevation by a single day.”

To add to the embarrassment of the church hierarchy over the matter, it now stands accused of attempting to 'gag’ the teacher’s husband in order to prevent him speaking out further.

The Bishop’s solicitors have written to the man’s lawyer, Clare Kirby, of Wimbledon-based Kirby&Co, warning that his claims “should not be repeated in public as they are defamatory”.

Bishop Conry denied having affairs other than with the woman six years ago. He said: “I have women who are friends. Some of my best friends are women. But no, I have not had a serious relationship that I need to hold my hands up to.”

He added: “I’m not saying that I should be allowed to have this relationship. I’m not trying to defend the relationship and say that the church’s teaching [on celibacy] should change.”

The Telegraph submitted to the office of Cardinal Nichols a number of questions regarding the new allegations. A spokesman for the Cardinal said the church had “nothing further to add” in relation to the matter.